Wednesday, May 15, 2013

A Non-Religious Man in a Religious World



It was a religious nation
A long time ago
With a religious government
And religious laws and customs

There were rumors of a man, a teacher
His teaching was contrary to the ways of the day
He was teaching about a coming kingdom
He was teaching in the mountains and thousands were listening

There were rumors that he was healing the sick
That he had walked on deep water
That he had turned jugs of water into wine
The religious leaders were worried

He did not seem religious
He was hanging with “sinners”
He was ignoring the holy days
He used a whip to clear the vendors from the temple

So they set out to investigate
They tried to trap him with religious questions
He twisted the questions and embarrassed them
And he kept teaching about a coming kingdom

They were afraid they would lose their power
They set out to kill the man
And they did
But once again he turned their trap into a trap for them

He did not stay dead
On a Sunday morning he walked out of the grave
He passed the guards they had put there
He went to where his friends were staying

He showed himself to hundreds of people
He said that being alive again was his proof
Proof that they would not die either
We will all live forever

He said he was going someplace mysterious
He was going to make a place for them
And for us
A place with no pain

There will be no tears
No dying
No layoffs
No disloyalty or disrespect

Millions have heard the story
They believe it is true
Millions are waiting
Waiting for the trumpet

He said he is coming back
He is coming to get the millions
Alive or dead he will wake us with a trumpet
And we will go to his special place

While the people wait, they do what he did
That is what he said they should do
Love each other and help people who need help
People who live like he did will go to his special place

They wait
They are buried like he was
They are raised like he was
And they live like he did

They are not religious people
Religious people follow people
They follow traditions and directives
His followers follow only him

And they wait

1 comment:

  1. Bruce and I know the difficulty of being "professional religious people" and remaining non-religious.

    ReplyDelete